GGPoker claims they improve Player Experience and Security by Banning SharkScope.
GGPoker recently announced a decision that sparked hot debates in the poker community: At the start of September, GGPoker blocked SharkScope from tracking tournament results. As such, the site can no longer display GGPoker player data.
While this seems controversial, we wanted to look closer to see why the brand took this step and what it means for GGPoker players.
What is SharkScope?
SharkScope is a comprehensive database of tournament results and player profiles that has been around since 2006. The data it stores include Return on Investment (ROI), number of tournaments played, a player’s In the Money (ITM) percentage, and average buy-in.
While some free daily searches are available, the entirety of the platform is open to people who pay $6 for a monthly subscription. The site tracks the tournament results of most poker rooms, including PokerStars and the WPN.
The Benefits
The site has previously detected and exposed cheating through its comprehensive view of poker tournaments. The exposures include unfair play, security issues, and bot rings in poker rooms. The site is a detailed tool poker fans can use to track and evaluate their performance and to follow a brand’s tournaments and fairness.
The Dangers
However, while it’s not the goal of the site’s tracking, many players use it to “bum hunt.” Malicious players have access to tournament results, which they can use to assess the performance of other players and identify “weak” links. SharkScope can help distinguish between experienced and inexperienced players, which means players can use it to single out and exploit them.
GGPoker’s Ban
GGPoker has come forward to say it will not allow the tracking of its tournaments to protect its weaker players. In this way, the brand hopes to combat potential bum hunting, and it’s not the first to do so. Other brands, including 888poker and partypoker, have also blocked the site from accessing their tournament results, with much the same feedback.
GGPoker Introduces Tournament Honours
Though GGPoker maintains it’s unrelated to the banning of SharkScope, the company has implemented a new feature to help track the best players in its poker rooms. Tournament Honours will display information like notable accomplishments, the Top 10 Biggest Players, the Top 10 Recent Winners, and more.
In this way, players can still see who ranks at the top without being able to exploit the players at the bottom. To further this goal, GGPoker will no longer display the eliminated players or the number of entries players made in the lobby.
Looking Ahead
While SharkScope has said they’re disappointed in this move that it affects thousands of GGPoker players negatively, only time will tell the impact it truly has. Regardless of the effect, one cannot argue that GGPoker doesn’t have its players’ best interests at heart.
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